Big Interview: Darcica Logistics - Oxfordshire family business turning the British highways green

By Kirsty Muir

10 October 2022

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UK road freight produced 11.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 ... now a Bicester logistics business is driving down its emissions through clever investment in electric vehicles.

If your business ambition is to make sure that our much-loved and familiar landscape will deliver as much for your children as it has for you, why not take the environmental lead in the notoriously carbon-emitting logistics industry?

That’s what Anthony Tattersall did in July 2020 when he set up Darcica Logistics during the pandemic with his wife Melanie (who handily has a Master’s Degree in environmental science).

And to ensure they are reminded daily why they are doing it, the couple named the business Darcica, after their two daughters, Darcey and Jessica.

Based in Bicester, Darcica is a delivery and fulfilment business. It has more than 50 drivers operating out of two depots (the other is in Swindon), and this year is predicting a turnover of around £2.5 million.

Pretty impressive for a company less than three years old. It’s also a family affair, with Anthony’s brother Neil, as Operations Manager.

Earlier this year the company expanded into haulage by joining the Palletways network. It also offers storage and fulfilment in its 15,000 sq ft Bicester warehouse as a partner of Diamond logistics, along with sustainable deliveries via a growing fleet of fully electric vehicles.

Anthony has recently swapped five of his diesel-emitting vehicles for three Maxus electric vans. Yes, it’s less capacity, but careful planning makes them as productive as the old vans, and much more environmentally-friendly.

He has also bought a fully electric 3.5-ton curtain delivery van, the first electric vehicle in the Palletways network to deploy across Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone. However, logistics is still coming out of the dark ages, and while large electric battery powered lorries are available, they also cost around three or four times more than their equivalent diesel lorries.

| Extending the life of old vehicles through conversion

As a new business with limited pockets, Anthony is having to make strategic decisions. One of those was the purchase of a nine-year-old 18-ton curtain sider which he is converting to electric. This will give what would otherwise be regarded as a redundant vehicle an extra seven or so years of life.

He has also bought three 18-ton diesel vehicles, because the company’s pockets aren’t yet deep enough to cover the cost of electric ones. But he’s taking the longer view. “They will have a lifespan of around eight years, after which we will convert them to electric, giving each vehicle a total of around 17 years of life.”

The company is also training its drivers to operate the diesel and electric vans more efficiently.

Range anxiety is a big thing for newbie electric vehicle drivers, whether in passenger cars or lorries, but much less so when you understand how to drive them. “Our electric vehicles do 180 miles, but if you drive efficiently, you can get 220 miles out of them,” said Anthony.

The company has also invested in zeroemission electric forklift trucks in its Bicester warehouse. Electric forklifts have fewer moving parts, which lowers the cost of maintenance and servicing, and the cost of recharging the battery overnight is much lower than filling a diesel tank or replacing gas bottles.

Part of the drive to move to zero emissions comes from the company’s commitment to their Mission Zero Accreditation, of which Darcica was one of the first companies in the UK to achieve this newly recognised industry standard.

| People notice when you’re doing the right thing

So where has all this environmental awareness come from? Both Anthony and Melanie previously worked on waste and recycling contracts for South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse Council, Anthony on the operations side and Melanie in communications.

“Both of us have always been environmentally aware,” said Anthony. “It was clear when we worked with the council that a commitment to recycling and doing the right thing had a big impact on people.

“With impending regulations, and in terms of customer demand, if a logistics business doesn’t invest in being sustainable, it won’t be in business in 10 years’ time.”

Using electric vehicles benefits customers too. “We give a cheaper rate for electric over diesel on same-day courier work under 150 miles,” said Anthony. “Customers pay the same price for driver and vehicle, but the fuel surcharge is half the price.”

Some customers, such as Bicester-based distillery Skywave Gin, use Darcica because of its greener credentials. “They use us because we run electric vehicles and offer a plastic-free fulfilment centre.”

Normally in warehouses you’ll see metal, wood and plastic packaging, but Darcica uses an environmentally-friendly pick and pack system made by Pallite, along with product protection Flexihex instead of bubble wrap. The company is not surprisingly starting to be recognised across the wider region.

It won the Green Business of the Year category at this year’s Oxfordshire Business Awards and at the time of going to press is a finalist in three more regional awards.

| Ambition drives growth, but Anthony is no sell-out

Anthony 41, and Melanie 42, are both ambitious, and neither has ever been afraid of hard work.

Anthony worked from the age of 10, doing two paper rounds in the morning, two in the evening, including labouring up and down the hill delivering to all the big houses on the road to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Melanie grew up understanding the environmental industry thanks to her father, who was managing director of a large waste management company which was taken over by Sita (now Suez) in the 1990s.

“Our aim is to have a fully sustainable fleet, electric or possibly hydrogen, and be recognised as the first logistics company to be fully sustainable,” said Anthony. “In the next 10 years I would like to have three more depots covering the southern area of the UK.

“We don’t plan to sell out and want to have something to hand over to our children which we’re proud of.”

No pressure then, Darcey and Jessica, but luckily for their parents, both are already showing an interest in the business their parents named after them.

Anthony offers three ways to get more miles out of your electric vehicle – van or car

Regenerative braking takes the wasted energy from the process of slowing down a car and uses it to recharge the car's batteries. On a normal car, braking simply wastes energy – but with regenerative braking, some of the energy can be reused.